Difficult partnerships
From time to time, all engineering managers and their teams will find themselves faced with a difficult cross-functional partnership. Despite our best efforts and careful practices, not everyone will respond to us in the way we hope they will. Since we usually do not have the luxury of picking our cross-functional partners, it is an important skill to be able to overcome these situations and find ways to continue to do our best work. When you are faced with a difficult cross-functional partnership, follow these steps.
Make your manager aware
It’s a good practice to keep your manager broadly aware of everything you are working on and specifically of the challenges you are facing in your cross-functional teams. This is not to cast blame or ask for help, but instead to give them a warning that you see a dynamic happening that is not ideal and that you are working on it. This allows your manager to have insight into the efforts you are putting forth...
